


Burning Skyline

by bigstupidjellyfish



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: M/M, Mutual Protectiveness, lightless guardians, post-cityfall angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2019-06-18 03:25:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15476625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bigstupidjellyfish/pseuds/bigstupidjellyfish
Summary: tfw you have to carry your hunter bf outta fires and everything is bad





	Burning Skyline

**Author's Note:**

> bungie went for straight up murder when they released comrades in arms lore cards. i haven't been the same ever since

The Last City was no more. Vanguard was no more. Light was no more. Traveler... Enoch stole a glance at the sky burning with fire, dark with smokes. The Cabal cage spread its six claws on her surface, glowing with orange.

Traveler was as dead as ever.

Enoch lowered his head. He couldn't afford getting distracted, couldn't despair right now. He needed to stay alert. He needed to get out of the fallen City to safety. Marcus in his arms, unconscious from pain, needed him.

Sneaking, he walked through familiar district, emptied, ravaged. The chaos of the first wave of the Cabal invasion passed now - not quiet yet, but quieter. No less dangerous. Everyone who could be evacuated while the Vanguard held the front line, were evacuated. Many of those who couldn't were no more. Many of those who lost their Light on the battlefield were no more.

Enoch was just stubborn enough to survive the first assault, the nauseating sickness that came from being torn away from the Light and Red Legion troops suffocating weakened and disoriented Guardians. He was stubborn enough to hold the line while the citizens behind him rushed to jumpships. He was stubborn enough to grit his teeth as he watched of several of them being shot down from the sky as soon as they took off, to take this pain and keep fighting with it, hoping to hurt the Cabal monsters as much as they hurt him.

He made it to edge of the City perimeter with a group of Guardians and civilians on foot, beaten and defeated, forced to run for their lives, as the Cabal methodically tore their home apart. Another group of survivors contacted them on through emergency channels that weren't entirely busted yet. They mentioned that a Hunter made a distraction for their escape, left within the City Walls. That Hunter was Marcus.

He left his group to go back for him.

He knew that he should have stayed with survivors. He knew the chances of him finding his partner in ruins and fire were slim, and chances of Marcus still being alive - close to zero. But Enoch had his last life on him, and maybe that clouded his judgment that he wished to put it against the odds.

Whatever higher power tipped the dices in his favor when he found Marcus on the verge of being choked by a Centurion, Enoch was thankful for it. Whatever it was that let Enoch survive the fight with that Centurion when blind rage forced him to charge the monster, Enoch was thankful for it. He just... got lucky, he thought now.

Luck was about the only thing left he could rely on, considering circumstances.

"Over there," Enoch's Ghost whispered.

He turned his head to see what Feather found. Across the street, relatively untouched by bombing, there was a small house with an unlit sign that stated it was some kind of private medical cabinet. Door to it was opened wide. The owners probably couldn't afford to lose time locking it during the evac. Enoch looked at his Ghost with gratitude and strode towards the door, feeling the weight of his partner on his arms. Whatever could have been left in that cabinet, Marcus needed that.

It was dark inside. Enoch didn't even think about checking if the place still had electricity, finding a couch in dimmed light of Feather and Didi's eyes. He laid Marcus on it as gently as possible. Still unconscious or close to it, Marcus groaned in pain nonetheless. Traveler, his leg looked bad. And Enoch was sure that wasn't all.

Cabinets and lockers of the procedure room were as open as the door to the place, almost all of them emptied, but Enoch found enough of medical supplies left for basic first aid. He took them, and some more. It felt bad, looting his own City like that.

He returned to Marcus, listening into the noises outside, wondering how much time he had to tend to Marcus' wounds until their luck ran out. He expected the Cabal to set up patrols on occupied territory immediately to deal with survivors, and if they stayed in one place for too long, they had no chance of leaving City walls again.

Enoch's mind was occupied with these thoughts, with plans of escape, what they were going to do afterwards (if there was any afterwards). His hands did the job on his own. He took the gloves of his gauntlets off, then - Marcus' helm to assess the damage. Check for bleedings. Shot of painkillers to Marcus' thigh. Shot of antibiotics. Grit his teeth at the sound of Marcus' whining. 

"I can't heal him. Light is just... gone. I can't do anything for him."

Enoch raised his head to look at Didi. Marcus' Ghost floated above his head, providing him some minimal lightning as he put up a splint for Marcus' broken leg.

He understood. Maybe he didn't, actually, he had no idea how Ghosts did their healing thing or how they felt their connection to Light being severed. But he kept calling to the Void, and found nothing instead each time. No more Ward of Dawn. No more striking the enemy with his fist and letting the Void consume them. He only had his armor to protect him. He had only himself to protect Marcus and their Ghosts.

"He'll make it, Didi. We will make it."

Stubborn or lying? It felt as if there was no difference.

"Enoch. We got trouble."

He went to the window Feather was floating at and looked out on the street. Cold dread spread in his chest as he saw a pack of warbeasts prowling, sniffing around, followed by a tall Cabal legionary.

Time was running short: he knew that these ugly, ruthless creatures could find them no matter how dark the building was or how quietly they kept. Whether warbeasts drew attention of the Cabal to Guardians or tried to tear them apart on spot, it was bad.

He returned to Marcus shortly and found him fidgeting on the couch and groaning in pain while Didi whispered something soothing to him.

"Bast? That you?" He called out to Titan.

"Keep quiet. We're in danger," Enoch knelt on the floor next to him. He made out Marcus' crooked grin in dim light - some witty remark was left unsaid. "Your sidearm has a silencer, right? I need it."

Marcus nodded and jerked his hand towards it, holstered at his thigh. Enoch reached to take it off, reluctant for a split second. Frightened he was about to leave Marcus unarmed and unsupervised. He was going to deal with warbeasts and their master without letting them alarm other Cabal forces, but what if creatures were going to deal with him instead?

He had to remind himself that if that was the case, Marcus had no chance of surviving. Not with broken leg, fractures and wounds like he had, not even if he left his shotgun for him. Enoch had to survive - so Marcus could, too.

"I'll be back."

With this frightened determination, Enoch took the sidearm and headed to the exit. Thought to himself: Hunters always had a knife up their sleeve. Or two. Or-

He sneaked into the shadows on the street, hiding behind the rubble, taking a note on how the enemy position changed since he last saw them. All his senses screamed at him how unacceptably wrong it was, to treat City streets as a battlefield, but after hours of Cabal invasion, Enoch grew numb to those signals. The beasts prowled closer, restless and alert, but not aware of Enoch's presence yet. The legionary barked the report into comms. No sign of other enemies within line of sight. Enoch had one shot at this.

As soon as he saw the Cabal putting away the communicator, Titan jumped out of the cover and took several silent shots, aiming for its head. Its helmet exploded with a fountain of pressurized fluid, and the monster fell.

The warbeasts' reaction was delayed, torn between movement from the rubble and hearing their master falling, and that gave Enoch enough time to charge them head-on. More shots, and two of the beasts were done with. No time to reload - the remaining two met Titan's fists. Enoch crushed the skull of one of them, but he made a mistake - reflex that saved his life so many times, calling to the Void to envelop him in protective armor of Light. There was no Light in him, and he stumbled. The last warbeast jumped onto him with a vicious growl, aiming for his throat, and he barely dodged the dreadful jaws, barely had enough momentum to not let the beast topple him. Enoch managed to grab it by its collar, and after few moments of both struggling, he finally broke its neck.

Instead of feeling victorious, he had to catch his breath. Look around if the fight got any unwanted attention. It was a miracle he could get the enemy by surprise, that he got out of the fight with only a few scratches on his armor.

He headed back to the building. There was no time for rest for him yet.

Feather was waiting for him, worried for their Guardian. After seeing that he was fine, Ghost led him to the cabinet's tiny kitchen for staff where they found some food - nowhere enough to sustain them outside City walls, it still could help two lightless Guardians fleeing from this disaster.

In procedure room, Marcus was sitting upright now, awake and alert. Enoch gathered medical supplies he could carry with them.

"There was a patrol outside. Soon the Cabal will wonder why it's gone missing. We have to move."

"Don't think I'm gonna be very good at moving any time soon."

Enoch stubbornly ignored the bitter sorrow in Marcus' voice, refusing to hear what he implied. If the next thing coming out of Marcus' mouth was going to be about leaving him behind, Enoch was sure he would just knock him out cold and carry him further. He shoved Hunter's helm into his hands and said:

"I came all the way back for you and I'm not leaving without you, whether you can move or not."

He caught a glimpse of Marcus' expression while he put the helmet on in shocked silence.

"How did you even find me? Everything is on fire, and for once it's not my fault." Hunter said, trying to play it cool.

Enoch picked him up, careful of the broken leg. Even with growing fatigue from constant fighting, Titan still found him so light in his hands, found small comfort in how Marcus leaned to him close for support.

"Just went for the biggest fire," he answered in matching tone, knowing well that it was just blind luck that led him to Marcus, guiding him to make right turns and choose right districts.

His Ghost returned from the street, informing them that it was quiet and that they should go, and Enoch was quick to leave their shelter and continue his retreat from the City. Marcus kept quiet, trying to stay alert and look around. Enoch felt as if the trap was closing around them with each second, hearing the Cabal dropping more bombs on the streets in distance, remembering where they already set up force barriers, wondering if his escape route was still unnoticed by the enemy.

"Hey, take a turn to the right here," Marcus whispered suddenly.

"Why?"

"Cron's garage is nearby. Might find a whole sparrow in there."

Enoch slowed down, looking around the corner. Dubious.

"Don't worry, Bast, I'm sure he won't mind us borrowing one of his birds. He still owes me glimmer from the last race."

He noticed a Cabal thresher flying slowly above the street, blinding lights revealing all the destruction left by the carpet bombing. Enoch hid where its flashlights couldn't reach and waited for it to fly away, his grip on Marcus growing tighter without him realizing it.

"A sparrow might draw attention while we're in the City," he said quietly.

"It's not like we have transport waiting for us outside the Wall. All sparrow links are down. Might as well grab our ride right now," Marcus argued. "You're not thinking of just carrying me all the way in out the wilds, are you?" He asked, incredulous, seeing that Enoch was still silent.

Marcus was right. The gravity of their situation broke through Enoch's stubborn conviction that if he just never stopped, eventually he would find some place away from this hell. There were no safe bets or routes right now.

Finally feeling crushing exhaustion and despair that was there for a while now, Enoch lowered his head, hiding in Marcus' neck. Everything he couldn't afford to feel right now, memories mere hours away of how the world ended, weighed him down in this short, painful moment of weakness, and then - nothing, just Marcus' hand sliding down Enoch's helm and gripping his shoulder between armor plates.

"We'll get through this, Bast. We'll make it." When Enoch didn't answer, he put his head against his, their helmets clanking against each other. "Together."

"Right," Titan said, nearly lost resolve found again in reassuring touch of his partner.

He headed where Marcus showed him and found the garage, seemingly whole and untouched, its shutters closed. Unprompted, Didi flew out of Marcus' hood and scanned the lock on shutters.

"Passlocks are still the same. Unbelievable," she muttered, finishing the scan. The shutters slid up.

"I'm not gonna question how your Ghost knows that," Enoch said, stepping inside Cron-8's garage.

"Story for another time indeed- oh look! That one!"

Shooing at Marcus to keep his voice low, Enoch went to the sparrow Hunter pointed at. Nothing remarkable, unfinished decals standing out even in the dark, it looked okay. Sturdy enough to carry two Guardians on a long ride. He put Marcus down on the floor next to it so Hunter could examine it while he was looking around for anything useful. For example - a spare fuel cell. A box of shotgun ammo.

"Everything looks good," Marcus declared. He turned on the engine, and the machine lifted into the air with a soft whir. Marcus stared on diagnostics screen intensely and muttered to himself: "Yeah, none of that warp tech nonsense that might or might not launch you into the orbit if you don't watch the output..."

Enoch didn't bother asking if they could just find some standard issue sparrow instead of half-experimental, half-illegal birds assembled by racers. He started racing himself only last year, but he already knew how a good chunk of professional SRL scene was eccentric at best. He just hoped he could rely on opinion of one of those eccentric SRL pros. Then he thought: it would be pretty funny to survive the Red Legion assault and escape the conquered City just to die to a faulty sparrow.

He knelt next to Marcus, subtly checking on how he was holding up.

"As soon as we leave the garage on that, we'll announce the hunt on us. We need to decide the route."

One of Ghosts brought up a holographic map of the Last City. The only obvious advantage the Guardians had was that their current position was the opposite of where the main bulk Red Legion forces invaded. It didn't mean it was safe - that thresher patrolling the area passed above one more time while they were holed up in this garage - but it was something. They crossed out paths where they knew Legion set up barriers or bombed the areas too badly. Wall Gates were off-limits, but luckily Marcus seemed to know where the Walls weren't so thick, where a Guardian or even two could slip through them. Some background thought in Enoch's mind nagged him to reprimand Hunter for not reporting those holes and fissures earlier, but Titan knew himself well that Walls weren't as monolith as City believed them to be, and that this could save their lives right now.

They were left with a couple of possible routes, and both knew that things were going to get increasingly more difficult as soon as they drove the sparrow out of the garage.

"I have a couple of smokes saved. Just in case," Marcus said while Enoch loaded his shotgun and shoved the rest of the ammo into his pockets. He was rocking back and forth, tense, bothered by his wounds again as analgesia probably started wearing off by now. "Ready?" He asked, almost sounding nonchalant.

Enoch helped him to settle onto sparrow.

"Sit in the front," he said.

"Why? I can't really drive right now. In case you haven't noticed."

Enoch stood before him awkwardly, unable to articulate his worry properly.

"We are probably gonna get shot in the back," he explained.

"And?" Marcus frowned, judging by his tone, then he realized what that meant. "By the Light, Enoch, don't be this stupid!" He sounded angry. "If you go down, I go down with you." Enoch opened his mouth, but Marcus knew when to interrupt him even without seeing his face: "No buts! We're gonna be shot at from every direction. I'll watch your six. And you drive fast. I know you can."

It should have been embarrassing for a Titan to get such peptalk from a Hunter, but Enoch was glad to have it right now. He feared for their lives, feared he wouldn't be able to protect Marcus right now, couldn't tell apart right decisions from wrong ones.

"Okay," he agreed. "Ready."

He guided the sparrow with Marcus on it to the open shutters and waited for Feather to peek out for short recon. After making sure the street was clear, Enoch straddled the sparrow, feeling Marcus' hands locking around his middle firmly, and took off.

He went slow first several streets, hitting brakes before turning around the corners, cautious of meeting Cabal forces. Cron's bird was surprisingly quiet on low speeds, which saved Guardians from unwanted attention from an observation post set up by invaders on one of the corners. But the closer they got to the Wall, the more tense Enoch got, sensing escape, how the stakes were getting higher.

Their luck ran out as soon as they entered a square near one of City parks, where a massive Cabal tank was blocking the path. The Cabal noticed Guardians just a moment later, legionaries jumping out of the outpost, and Enoch had no other choice but to press pedals and accelerate, avoiding chaotic gunshots. He saw roadblocks around all exits out of the square, and the only two paths seemed to be back where they came from, or right past the tank, into the park behind it.

"Bast?" Marcus' voice came behind him, almost scared.

"Hang on!"

He pushed towards the tank while they still had time, seeing Cabal only jumping into it, unprepared for Guardians' arrival. If they could get through the park behind it, they had direct access to outskirts near the Wall.

Slugs whistled in the air, and Enoch felt a couple rattling against the sparrow's fenders as he zipped between Red Legion troops, hoping they would catch each other in friendly fire, but the bird held against the shots. He kept an eye on the tank, still nonoperational. It almost felt that they were going to make it-

"Shit, that's a Colossus!"

Massive Cabal with a heavy machine gun launched into the sky boosted by jetpack and landed near the tank, cutting them off.

"Get close to it! Before rockets!"

Enoch obeyed without thinking, straightening the path towards the Colossus, and saw how the monster was about to shoot a volley of rockets towards them.

"To the left! Faster!"

As the sparrow closed in with the Colossus, swayed to the left side as Marcus demanded, he felt how Hunter moved behind him. For a split second Enoch was frightened that he jumped off the sparrow, his brain registering two loud shots of his own shotgun behind, then something popped and fell, and then - Marcus pressed to Enoch's back, trying to hold onto him. Next second, Enoch accelerated the sparrow, flying past the tank, through the scorched park to get out of the shooting distance, faster, _faster_.

He didn't stop for a while, his heart still racing from the encounter, his brain analyzing with delay all opportunities to die that they escaped. He only ran out of worst-case scenarios when they were past the park and the outskirts, up close to City wall, double cautious in case the Cabal called for air support. Behind him, Marcus, still holding the shotgun between them, directed him until they reached the fissure in the Wall, hidden behind undergrowth and bush, surprisingly wide enough to fit a sparrow. 

Outside didn't feel any different than being trapped in the conquered City. Funny that.

"Where to now?"

Enoch wondered if they could still catch up with the group he left. They caught the word that Guardians and civilians who couldn't get on jumpships retreated through the mountain passage.

"Twilight Gap."

_And then?_

Enoch didn't have an answer to that. He focused on the path before him, a curve around the City he had to make, on Marcus' grip on his waist, on hope that they had another day to live and that somewhere out there, they could find a safe place for them.

They reached the mountain pass by twilight. Cron's sparrow was agile enough to make it through the Gap, and after stopping to check on Marcus' leg and eat what little food they had on them, they decided to keep going into the night. Cabal dropships surged the sky, seemingly oblivious of the small mechanical bird carrying two survivors on the ground. It was risky to stay out there in the open, and there was no shelter to hide. The only option was to keep moving.

At some point, when the pass got narrower and the night grew darker, Enoch had to dismount the sparrow and guide it on foot, glad that it obediently slid above the ground with little to no effort. Exhaustion was catching up with him, not strong enough to make him unable to go, but getting there.

He heard a noise from Marcus - a short, quiet cry full of grief and despair, - and stopped in his tracks. When he looked back to check what was wrong, he saw Marcus looking on the path where they came from and what caused him such pain.

The sky was lit with orange glow of fires ravaging the Last City, of the Cabal cage clawing onto dead, unresponsive Traveler. This was how the end of the world looked.

"This can't be real."

"Marcus..." Didi was quick to respond to her Guardian's distress.

"I know this is real, it just... _can't_ be real," he whispered. Enoch noticed how he was shaking.

Not knowing what to say, he put his hand onto Marcus' shoulder, to show solidarity at least, despite that all his instincts screamed at him to do everything he could and couldn't to relieve his partner's misery. But he could only do so much.

To his surprise, Marcus leaned to him, grabbing his forearm in a death grip, helmet bumping against Titan's chestplate, and Enoch followed the motion, embracing his partner. He felt tremors surging through Marcus' body, growing weaker as he calmed down. He thought he could stand like that with his arms around Marcus for eternity. He heard a ragged inhale, and Marcus said, letting go of him:

"We should move." Still subdued, but collected.

Enoch reached for handles of the sparrow and continued his walk.

Past the Gap, on their descent, both Ghosts caught a transmission, standard Vanguard encryption. A message to gather forces, and coordinates, signed by a name Guardians did not recognize. A trap? A hope?

"At least she sounds human," Marcus concluded for them both while their Ghosts frantically double checked the encryption in case that was just a recorded message sent by the enemy to lure the survivors.

As soon as there was enough space to ride the sparrow again, Enoch hopped back onto it and took off, figuring out the route to these coordinates in mountainside. He felt his attention being dulled by the long restless walk. The only thing that prevented him from crashing into the nearest rock by accident was knowing that behind him, Marcus had it worse. Out of analgesics already, without a chance to rest, Hunter was floating in pain, barely holding to Enoch during their ride.

It took them several hours to reach the coordinates. A lone sniper in a funny looking cloak met them on their cautious approach, the voice of the transmission. Snarky and stern, she almost sounded as if she scolded the Guardians for taking so long to get there as she led them to the camp nearby.

"We are gathering whoever we can," Hawthorne - that was her name - said, looking around hawkishly, confident in the wilds like no mortal should have been, "but we have only so many jumpships for everyone. We're departing next morning."

"To where?" Enoch asked, walking and guiding the sparrow again. He offered Hawthorne a ride, but she only looked at him oddly and vehemently refused.

"EDZ. There is this lovely place out there, we call it the Farm. Not sure how you City types will like it though."

Dead Zones. The sniper suggested someone lived there? It sounded inane, but after everything what happened, Enoch wanted to believe that. He noticed in peripheral vision how Marcus swayed in sparrow's seat, almost falling off, and hurried to catch him.

"I'm fine, I'm fine..." Marcus mumbled, attempting to sit upright on his own.

"Marcus needs medical help," Enoch turned to Hawthorne.

"We have a couple of doctors and good equipment, but they've been busy. Lots of casualties. If your friend is not dying, he will probably have to wait." There was a hint of sympathy in her voice.

"I'm most definitely not dying!" Marcus butted in with faked boisterousness. "Just kinda feeling like it."

Hawthorne raised her eyebrows in confusion, but didn't say anything. Enoch wanted to argue with Marcus that he needed to get help as soon as possible, but decided against it. No matter how strongly he was convinced Marcus' state should be prioritized, it was up to triage procedures to determine if he was going to wait.

The camp was hidden near a mountain creek. A lot of people. Enoch looked around, noticing Guardians among them, in battered armor, exhausted, sullen. No one he knew so far, he thought as he looked at their bleak faces with tired eyes.

Hawthorne returned to her spot outside the camp. When Enoch found doctors, it was as she said: they had their hands full. Those in critical conditions were first. Those who could fight if patched up right away second. The rest were sorted by seriousness of condition. Marcus's broken leg and fractured ribs were somewhere down the waiting line. He didn't object, even insisted he was going to be fine.

Enoch understood and accepted waiting for medical help, but deep down, he tried to stomp out a single irrational thought: unfair.

He tried to offer his help, with whatever refugees might need, but as busy as most of them were, they pretty authoritatively told him to get some rest first, muttering something about Guardians having no sense of preservation and how no one here would benefit from them tiring themselves to death. Slightly embarrassed to be shunned like that, Enoch followed the advice. His senses finally stopped ringing dangers everywhere, letting the tension of constant alertness tune down a bit. He was very, very tired.

There wasn't anything in the camp to get comfortable, though. He simply joined Marcus who was sitting right on the ground, leaning onto Cron's (their now?) sparrow, hiding his face in the hood of his cloak from the midday sun. After a few moments of fidgeting, he gave up and grabbed Marcus in a hug, mindful of his wounds. Hunter's body was slack against his.

"You okay?"

"For now," Marcus mumbled, tiredly and sleepily. "I nagged them until they gave me another painkiller shot." He sighed heavily, pressing his head against Enoch's chestplate. "You?"

"Scratches. I'm fine."

He felt infinitely calmer now, almost cozy, despite arguably comfortable position. It was just that Marcus was right here, not in immediate danger. They could snatch a little moment of peace now.

"Gonna take a look at these ships later. You saw what scrap they want to fly on?" Marcus chattered mindlessly, his tension releasing with conversation. "If Holliday was here, she'd be terrified." He grew silent for a beat. "Do you think she made it out of the City?"

"Should have," Enoch rumbled in response, struggling to keep up with conversation. He was about to fall asleep any moment. "I saw her leading the evac. Most of the ships made it."

Only most of them. And where were they now? Enoch felt the painful pang in his chest at the memory of jumpships falling down in pieces, back onto City their tried to escape.

"Any chance you saw Boaz?"

Enoch's heart shrank a little at Marcus' intonation when he mentioned his friend.

"No. Sorry."

"He's probably fine. Boaz I know can't just die like that, not without complaining about everything to me first."

He tried to sound nonchalant, but Enoch felt the worry in Marcus' voice. Shared this worry for their friends and comrades lost in smokes of the Cityfall. A short impulse - what if he didn't go back to find Marcus, what if Hunter was among those he worried about right now? The thought sent chills down his spine.

"You know who's absolutely okay? Ariadne."

"You saw her? Where?"

"No, no, she just owes me the biggest pile of glimmer. If she dies, I'll sue her for debt evasion."

Enoch shook his head, trying to comprehend this humor Marcus was shielding himself from grief.

"What about those who _you_ owe glimmer?"

"Nonsense. I don't owe anyone anything."

They kept exchanging these remarks for a bit until Enoch drifted off, soothed, and fell asleep.

Short, ineffective rest was interrupted when he felt movement nearby. Before his consciousness returned, he tightened his grip on Marcus, scared that he was about to lose him.

"Knock it off, big guy, I'm here to help."

He opened his eyes and saw an Exo with a medical staff patch on her arm kneeling next to them.

"Pardon him. He's a bit clingy." Marcus sat upright and tried to straighten his leg for the doctor to examine it. Enoch took his arms off Marcus instantly.

Exo asked them questions - what else Marcus had besides broken leg, for how long, - while she took the splint off.

"Big yikes," she said indifferently when she examined the broken shin. "Alright, get him to the tent. Gonna do some patchwork."

Enoch readily stood up, picking Marcus off the ground, and strode towards the medical tent.

"What can I help with?" He asked once they got inside and he put Marcus on the couch behind a curtain.

"Here? Nothing. You get out and wait," Exo's tone suggested she had to repeat these words many times today. She stopped paying attention to him the moment she finished speaking, busying herself with work, and Enoch left the tent without arguing.

He tried to ignore the tense anxiousness he felt rising as soon as Marcus was out of sight, telling himself he was getting help that he needed so much. _Clingy_ , huh?

He checked with other refugees, trying to make himself useful during preparation for departure. He ended up helping with loading cargo onto the ships. The task was physically demanding and at the same time boring enough to distract him, to sink down the hopeless despair that was clawing on him. He got to exchange a couple of words with other Guardians and piece together what little information was available. Things were dire. How were they supposed to come back from this?

He didn't notice how much time passed before he heard Marcus' voice calling to him:

"Enoch, there you are! Didi, stop looking for Enoch, I found him myself!"

The tall man with silvered beard he was currently helping nodded at him to go, and Enoch turned to Marcus. Hunter had his leg clad in a white cast, all the way up to the knee, and he limped towards him on crutches.

"We're apparently back to Dark Ages of medicine," he smiled crookedly when he noticed Enoch staring, "though when I said that, doc got pretty angry with me. Can't imagine why."

Enoch sighed. Marcus was self-aware enough to know why.

"They're serving food. Come on," Marcus said, dropping the played nonchalance.

He kind of wanted to pick Marcus up and carry him again. It didn't suit him to be this slow.

They got their portions of rations and settled in the shadow of one of tents - on the ground again, but it wasn't like they'd complain about this. Food, though kinda stale, improved the mood by significant degree. Enoch knew that bodies just worked that way, a simple physical reaction to not being hungry anymore. It was still welcome.

"Not gonna lie to you, Bast," Marcus said suddenly after finishing his bowl. "You look terrible. You should rest."

Enoch frowned.

"There is a lot to do before the departure."

"And you're not the only person here to do it all. Come on, you slept for, like, twenty minutes in last two days. We're not as sturdy and stress-proof anymore. Ask my leg and ribs if you have doubts."

He wanted to correct him - Enoch was fairly sure that he slept for a couple of hours at least during their wait for doctors, - but closed his mouth before saying anything. Genuine concern in Marcus' voice got through him.

"For once, I agree with him, Enoch," Feather floated towards him and rotated their shell rather judgmentally.

"See, even Feather agrees with me."

"Truly the world has come to an end," Enoch joked. How did it happen that his own Ghost and this Hunter were scolding him in unison now?

"Don't be so dramatic. We're not dead yet," Marcus said, unexpectedly serious. "Come here." He tugged him by forearm, and in the next moment Enoch found himself lying on Marcus' lap. "I'll watch so no one bothers you."

He put his palm under Enoch's head for support, and let the other hand rest on his shoulder. Enoch felt the warmth even through Marcus' gloves.

"Thanks for coming back for me. It was very stupid and reckless of you, but if it wasn't for you, I'd be dead now."

Enoch chuckled: how could Marcus, of all people, call him out on recklessness, in such grave voice?

"Leaving you wasn't in the cards."

The thought frightened Enoch again, and he took the opportunity to examine his fear closely.

"I guess I owe you now." A soft laughter.

"I thought you didn't owe anyone anything?"

"Those are exceptional circumstances. What do I owe you?"

Enoch shrugged. How would he dare demand anything back from Marcus? The City fell. The Light was gone. But in this solemn moment, in Marcus' hands, Enoch felt that there was a future ahead of them. Something to look forward to. Something worth continuing the fight. As long as he knew his partner was beside him.

"Enoch, work with me," Marcus poked his shoulder, then sighed. "I wonder if I can find my glimmer stashes somewhere around the Cosmodrome..."

"You don't need to pay me," Enoch rolled his eyes, though he caught that Marcus wasn't terribly serious about this.

Then he thought that maybe he could ask something from him in return. A promise to not die? To never leave him?

Titan looked up at Hunter, seeing him frowning in thought. Thinking how dear his partner was to him.

Maybe he should have asked him for a kiss?

"Oh, I _know_!" Marcus exclaimed excitedly. "Next SRL cup, yours. That's a promise."

Enoch looked up again, squinting. Out of all things, SRL was on Marcus' mind? Then he thought: of course it was.

"Pretty words, Ren."

Marcus' grin darkened.

"Oh, I'm serious. After we deal with all this," he raised a hand to point out seemingly everything, "mess, we'll get back to racing in no time. And things you did with sparrow back then? Champion title will suit you."

Enoch scoffed. Marcus sounded so unshakably sure. He found way too much comfort in it than reasonable.

"We'll see tomorrow."

They fell silent, and Enoch felt drowsiness overwhelming him finally, letting him drop his guard and relax, knowing that Marcus was here, with him, safe.

The world have ended with the Cityfall, and yet, they still lived. Enoch found a light of hope in him. A hope that they could build another world for each other again. 


End file.
